Department for Transport

Infrastructure: Government Assistance

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether special purpose vehicles are currently used to deliver any government-supported passenger rail or infrastructure operations.

Claire Perry: A special purpose vehicle is a company formed for a specific purpose, which may be for the short or long-term and is not limited to projects. In this way all franchised passenger train service operators are special purpose vehicles which deliver government-supported passenger rail operations. Network Rail also use special purpose vehicles, for example Network Rail Infrastructure Finance (www.networkrail.co.uk/investor-relations/uk-government-guarantee/). There are a number of other examples across the industry, but we have no complete list of them.

Home Office

Home Office: Welsh Language

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of the forms on her Department's website is available in Welsh.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 08 December 2015



The Home Office currently provides 336 forms in total on GOV.UK, of which 5 are published in the Welsh language, representing 1.5% of the total.

Driving Offences: Speed Limits

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Police and Crime Commissioners have powers to instruct the police to impose fines on motorists found to be travelling at 71 mph in 70 mph zones.

Mike Penning: How the police enforce road traffic law, including in respect of speeding offences, is a matter for their professional judgement and operational discretion.Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) do not have powers to instruct the police in operational policing matters. The operational independence of the police is a fundamental principle of British policing. The Policing Protocol Order 2011, which sets out how the relationship between PCCs and Chief Constables should work, is explicit when it states that “At all times the Chief Constable, their constables and staff, remain operationally independent in the service of the communities that they serve.”Regardless of the PCC in office, the police have the discretion to use their judgment when deciding who to investigate or arrest, and must by law be wholly without influence of the PCC in respect of operational policing.

Cybercrime

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve the system for reporting cybercrime.

Mike Penning: Action Fraud is the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, and takes reports on behalf of all police forces in England and Wales. In June, it was extended to cover Northern Ireland. Action Fraud was set up to improve reporting of what has traditionally been an under-reported crime type. Official figures support the decision to centralise reporting: in the year ending June 2015, recorded fraud offences more than trebled from 72,000 before the centralisation of reporting to over 230,000.Action Fraud works in conjunction with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB): as of April 2014 both are operated by the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, which means one organisation is responsible for the whole process of taking reports and analysing them. The NFIB analyses Action Fraud crime reports and attempts to match them with other crimes and identify viable lines of enquiry so that an intelligence package can be passed to the police force best able to launch an investigation (usually where the suspect is believed to be located).Not all crimes recorded by Action Fraud and analysed by the NFIB will have viable investigative leads: fraudsters and cyber criminals may be based overseas or use false details. Nevertheless, in 2014/15, the number of crimes sent to police forces was almost 62,000. This was an increase of over 50% on 2013/14. The City of London Police are working with local forces to share expertise on how to investigate these types of crimes. City of London Police will be introducing a new IT system in May 2016, comprising of a new and much easier to use online reporting tool and a new data analytics platform within the NFIB. It will improve the identification of viable crimes to be passed to police forces, and the ability to provide improved victim service and care.

Bookmakers: Emergency Calls

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the causes of recent trends in the number of police call outs to bookmakers.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not collect information centrally on the locations to which police officers are called out and has made no assessment of recent trends in the number of call outs to bookmakers.It is for Police and Crime Commissioners to decide police priorities at a local level, and for Chief Constables to determine the most appropriate response in their areas.

Personation: Internet

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent online identity theft.

Mike Penning: Cyber Streetwise is a cross Government campaign designed to improve the online safety knowledge, behaviour and confidence of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and individuals; driving down crime, saving victims’ money and reinforcing perceptions of the UK as a safe place to do business. Since its launch in January 2014, approximately 2 million adults have adopted safer online behaviours that will better protect them. Our 2015/16 strategic approach aims to drive measurable shifts in three key behaviours: using strong passwords made up of three random words; installing security software on all devices; and regularly downloading software updates which experts agree will provide SMEs and individuals with the most protection against cyber-crime.The City of London Police and Action Fraud have also brought together advice from a range of sources through the ‘Not With My Name’ campaign, to help people protect their identity, including online. The campaign is supported by the Metropolitan Police Service, Experian, Cifas, Financial Fraud Action UK, Get Safe Online and Cyber Streetwise.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Partnerships: Scotland

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the different trend in the number of limited partnerships that have been registered in Scotland with Companies House compared to the rest of the UK in each year since 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Since 2008 there has been a marked rise in the number of registrations of Scottish limited partnerships relative to the rest of the UK.Limited partnerships have increasingly been used as a vehicle for establishing private equity and venture capital funds. Scottish limited partnerships are particularly well-suited to this sector as they have separate legal personality distinct from the partners.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

Joseph Johnson: As has been the case under successive Administrations, civil servants, including special advisers, may routinely accompany their Ministers on official visits Information relating to Ministers' overseas visits is published on my Department’s website, as part of the Government’s wider transparency agenda.All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Treasury

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many meetings he has held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 2015-16 session of Parliament to date.

Stephen Crabb: I have regular meetings with my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer along with all other Cabinet Ministers.

Department for Education

Free Schools

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2014 to Question 17343, what free schools her Department funded for 2014-15; how many children were enrolled at each such school in the autumn term 2014; and for how many children each such school received funding for the academic year 2014-15.

Edward Timpson: To allow response to PQ 18764, please find attached an Excel workbook detailing:- The Free Schools, Studio Schools and University Technical Colleges (UTCs) open as at 1st September 2014;- Their funded pupil numbers for the academic year 2014 to 2015;- Their recorded pupil numbers as per the October 2014 school census.



PQ18764 pupil numbers 2014
(Excel SpreadSheet, 107.5 KB)

Schools: Construction

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new schools were built in each local education authority area between 1997 and 2015.

Edward Timpson: The government provides local authorities and other bodies responsible for school buildings with capital funding for schools through condition funding and basic need funding for new school places. Local authorities can spend this money on new school buildings but the department does not collect the data centrally on the number of new school buildings. Information on the impact of this funding in each local authority and parliamentary constituency could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.The government does directly deliver new schools, in new or refurbished buildings, through the Free Schools, University Technical Colleges and Studio Schools programmes. There are currently 383 schools that are open through these programmes.A list of all open free schools can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-open-schools-and-successful-applications.A list of all open University Technical Colleges and Studio Schools can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/utcs-and-studio-schools-open-schools-and-applications-received.

Gambling: Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 18390, if she will include within the scope of character education referred to teaching on the dangers of problem gambling.

Edward Timpson: All young people need strong academic skills as well as a complementary set of character attributes to be successful in life. That is why we have invested £5 million in character and resilience and made it very clear that schools should teach personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).The non-statutory PSHE programme of study, published by the PSHE Association, includes teaching about all forms of gambling and its psychological and financial impact. The programme of study is available online at:https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/

Ministry of Justice

Criminal Proceedings: Fees and Charges

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of changes to his Department's policy on the criminal courts charge.

Mr Shailesh Vara: From 24 December the Criminal Courts Charge will be suspended, pending a review of all financial impositions imposed in the criminal courts. There are no direct financial costs involved in making this change.The updated Impact Assessment estimated that the Criminal Courts Charge would bring in approximately £95m per annum in steady state (from 2019/20 onwards). The Impact Assessment can be found here http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/796/impacts.

Ministry of Defence

Guided Weapons

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost is of each (a) Paveway IV bomb and (b) Brimstone missile procured by the RAF; and how many such weapons are in the RAF stockpile.

Mr Philip Dunne: I am withholding details of costs for in-service Paveway IV bombs and Brimstone missiles as disclosure would prejudice commercial interests. I am also withholding details of the number of bombs and missiles held by the RAF as disclosure would or would likely prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our Armed Forces and allies.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Offences against Children: Internet

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the European Regulation on a European Single Market for Electronic Communications on blocking access to child sexual abuse material online.

Mr Edward Vaizey: My Department supports the blocking of access to child sexual abuse material by industry and we are actively seeking to ensure that all European regulation, including the electronic communications framework - which is currently under review - does not impede this. The Government’s primary concern during negotiations on the Connected Continent (or Telecoms Single Market) Regulations was that the Internet Watch Foundation's (IWF) ability to block access to illegal images of child abuse was protected, and we are confident we have ensured this. Going forward, we will continue with our aim to ensure any future European regulation allows the blocking of such content.

Trinity Mirror: Local World

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he is seeking the advice of Ofcom on Trinity Mirror's purchase of Local World and the implications of that purchase for plurality in provision of local news.

Mr Edward Vaizey: At the present time the Department has not formally sought the views of Ofcom on this matter.

Bowes Museum: Art Works

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons the portrait of Oliver Porter by Sir Anthony van Dyck donated to the nation by the Duke of Northumberland is hung in Bowes Museum; and what discussions were held on hanging that portrait in a museum which is free to the public.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Individuals donating work to the nation through the Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) Scheme, administered by the Arts Council, can specify which institution will receive it. In the case of the Portrait of Oliver Porter by Sir Anthony van Dyck, it was made a condition of the offer that the painting be allocated to the Bowes Museum. The painting is a significant acquisition for the North-East and will feature in the Bowes Museum’s forthcoming major exhibition, The English Rose – Feminine Beauty from Van Dyck to Sargent, which opens in May 2016.

UN Convention for Protection of Cultural Property in Event of Armed Conflict

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans for the UK to ratify the 1945 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government remains committed to bringing forward legislation to ratify the Hague Convention and accede to its two Protocols at the first opportunity.

Internet: Pornography

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department will publish its consultation on verification mechanisms to restrict under 18 access to pornographic websites.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is currently preparing a consultation on the Government’s manifesto commitment requiring age verification for access to all sites containing pornographic material. This will be published in due course.

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government undertook of consumer needs before announcing its plan to introduce a 10Mbps universal broadband speed.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Prime Minister's excellent announcement to give people a legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live through a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO)followed reports of consumers' broadband needs from a range of sources, including Ofcom's annual infrastructure reports.

Mobile Phones

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which areas of the UK had (a) limited and (b) no mobile coverage in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Following the Government's landmark agreement with mobile network operators in December 2014 and the 4G licence obligation on Telefonica we expect mobile coverage to improve significantly - with coverage to nearly 98% of UK landmass by 2017.In August 2015 Ofcom published an online interactive map showing areas of mobile coverage in the UK. The map is available at:http://www.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage. No such map exists for coverage in 2010.

Broadband: Business

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK businesses that do not have access to broadband with speeds above 24Mbps.

Mr Edward Vaizey: According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2015, published on 1 December 2015, superfast broadband coverageis now available to 68% of small and medium businesses (SMEs) - up from 56% last year– a very substantial increase.In addition, the £40 million government-funded Broadband Connection Voucher Schemehas benefitted well over 50,000 SMEs,who employ up to 1 million people across the UK; and we are on track to hit 95% superfast broadband coverage across the UK by 2017. In addition, the PM recently announced the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live.

Mobile Phones: Rural Areas

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2015 to Question 6371, whether he plans to reform the planning process to improve the ability of mobile network operators to deploy taller infrastructure in areas where connectivity is needed; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Yes. Extensive and reliable mobile connectivity is vital for our modern economy, particularly in rural areas. The Government has undertaken a review of the planning system to assess what improvements should be made to support the deployment of mobile infrastructure. The outcome of that review will be announced shortly, I hope.

UK City of Culture: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much (a) capital funding and (b) funding in total has been allocated by (i) his Department and (ii) bodies funded by his Department to support Hull City of Culture 2017.

Mr Edward Vaizey: DCMS is investing £1.5 million in the Ferens Gallery to help them host the Turner Prize; plus £0.5 million to help create a lasting cultural legacy for Hull. The Gallery will receive a further £0.5m from ACE for refurbishment. My department is also providing £3.1 million to three ACE-funded organisations -Artlink, Freedom Festival and Hull Truck Theatre - who will play a key role in the 2017 events. Hull Museums, now among ACE's Major Partner Museums, have been awarded £2.5m between now and 2018; and an additional £3 million from ACE will help raise the profile of culture in the city and promote new partnerships throughout 2017. This amounts to over £11 million and does not include additional investment that might come from other bodies such as the BBC.

British Telecom

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the outcomes were of his recent meetings with BT's Head of Customer Care in relation to (a) billing, (b) transparency around charges, (c) customer care and (d) other issues that were discussed at that meeting.

Mr Edward Vaizey: BT have madea public commitment to answer at least 80% of calls in the UK by the end of 2016. They also have planstoinvestin new tools for call centres and customers over the next 18 months to make it easier to get help; ensurethat customers with complex issues have a UK-based case handler; work to simplify bills and charges; and to increase the UK capacity in its call centres in the evenings and at weekends. I shall be watching their progress with interest, as I am sure will be my Rt Hon friend.

Regeneration: Dundee

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support the Government has provided for the Waterfront regeneration project in Dundee.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Museum of Design, V&A Dundee will be a key central feature of the Dundee Waterfront Regeneration project. The Heritage Lottery Fund has contributed almost £14 million to the museum. The project is yet another example among many of a major national museum supporting culture outside London.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Rural Payments Agency

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to improve the administration of the Rural Payments Agency.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many single farm payments were issued by the Rural Payments Agency on 1 December 2015; and how many of those payments were calculated incorrectly.

George Eustice: The Secretary of State and I have regular meetings and discussions with the Chief Executive of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). The Chief Executive of the RPA also attends the department’s weekly Executive Committee.Around 33,000 Basic Payment Scheme claims were paid promptly and accurately on 1st December, the first day of the payment window that runs through to 30 June.

Animal Breeding: Licensing

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many semen collection licences her Department has issued in each year from 2010 to 2015.

George Eustice: The information will be placed in the House Library.

Animal Breeding: Licensing

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much revenue accrues to the public purse for payments received for semen collection licences.

George Eustice: The information will be placed in the House Library.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Fire Services

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many road traffic collisions English fire and rescue service attended in 2013-14.

Greg Clark: In 2013/14 fire and rescue services in England attended over 28,100 road traffic collisions. They also attended over 1,200 other transport incidents.This information for all fire and rescue services, together with greater detail and more up-to-date data (for 2014/15), is available in the Department’s Fire Statistics Monitor publication (Table 7):https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-monitor-april-2014-to-march-2015

Scotland Office

Dover House

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2015 to Question 7426, how many events have been hosted by non-government bodies at Dover House since 21 July 2015.

David Mundell: There have been seven events hosted at Dover House by non-government bodies at Dover House since 21 July 2015

HM Treasury

Landfill Communities Fund

Kerry McCarthy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he made of the effect on (a) environmental bodies, (b) biodiversity conservation, (c) pollution prevention, (d) waste reduction and (e) public parks of the proposed reduction in the Landfill Communities Fund.

Damian Hinds: Since its introduction in 1996, the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) has contributed over £1.4bn to community projects in areas affected by a local landfill site and the government acknowledges the positive impact of this funding for communities. However, as the LCF is a tax credit scheme, it reduces the government's tax revenues and we therefore have a responsibility to seek value for money for the taxpayer.Despite difficult decisions on spending, the government has decided to retain and reform the LCF. The value of the LCF for 2016-17 will therefore be set at £39.3m. The government is committed to providing the best value for communities, and over the next five years £20m of the additional Landfill Tax revenues resulting from this change will be used by the Environment Agency to address waste crime.The government wants LCF money to get to communities more quickly. Our reforms will encourage money to be spent in the communities that need it. The LCF will provide £39.3m additional funding for communities in 2016/17 alone and we hope more unspent funds, which this year totalled £118m, will also reach projects as soon as possible.

Infrastructure

Margaret Ferrier: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2015 to Question 902460, what the value of the guarantees of projects approved by the UK Guarantees Scheme has been in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Wales to date.

Greg Hands: The information requested is publically available on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-guarantees-scheme-prequalified-projects/uk-guarantees-scheme-table-of-prequalified-projects, where the projects that have been approved or prequalified for a guarantee are listed.

Department of Health

Cancer

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of multiple myeloma and the risks presented by late diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England’s ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaigns do not currently include multiple myeloma.A number of factors are taken into account when deciding which campaigns to develop and run, with one of the main criteria being the scope to save lives through earlier diagnosis and whether the cancer has a clear early sign or symptom that the general public can act upon should it arise.We appreciate that this means that there are a number of cancers, besides Myeloid Leukaemia, that are not covered by ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ specifically. Given this, Public Health England is looking at developing an approach to raise awareness of generic symptoms that can indicate a wider number of cancers and the need to visit the doctor promptly with these symptoms. This work is currently in development, with the help of a number of experts, including clinicians and charities.

Veterinary Medicine: Antibiotics

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with health experts on the human health implications of the veterinary use of colistin for colistin resistance in slaughtered animals, food and humans; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Department of Health is working closely with Public Health England (PHE), the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Veterinary Medicines Directorate to ensure that the risk assessment to public health from colistin-resistant bacteria from slaughtered animals, food and humans considers all available evidence. While PHE and the FSA judge that the public health risk of colistin-resistant bacteria from slaughtered animals and the food chain is very low, the use of colistin for animals will be reviewed following recent reports of transferable colistin resistance in China and Europe.I regularly discuss the issue of antimicrobial resistance with the Chief Medical Officer.

Health Services: Weather

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2015 to Question 12818, on health services: weather, what data will be (a) collected and (b) published by NHS England.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England publishes a ‘winter health watch’ webpage each week throughout the winter. This includes a summary of the findings of our routine surveillance suitable for a non-technical audience, as well as links through to specific surveillance bulletins including surveillance for all- cause mortality, seasonal influenza, and norovirus.Details of the data that will be collected and published by NHS England can be found here:http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/

Junior Doctors: Industrial Disputes

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral contribution of 30 November 2015, Official Report, column 33, on NHS England collating feedback from all trusts on the effect of proposed industrial action, if he will place a copy of that feedback in the Library.

Ben Gummer: NHS England asked trusts to provide information on their preparations for the proposed industrial action for 1, 8 and 16 December 2015 which was being refreshed on an ongoing basis by trusts as plans developed locally.On 30 November 2015, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) announced on behalf of the Department of Health and the British Medical Association that action was suspended, upon agreement of a memorandum of understanding.NHS England is therefore continuing to work with trusts to ensure that the service is prepared should there be any industrial action in the future.

Myeloma

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether an assessment has been made of the barriers preventing multiple myeloma patients accessing the most innovative treatments.

Jane Ellison: No specific assessment has been made of the barriers affecting access to the most innovative treatments for patients with multiple myeloma.It is essential that a robust process is in place to ensure that patients get rapid access to the most innovative drugs that represent value for money to the National Health Service. The Cancer Drugs Fund has helped over 84,000 people to access the life-extending drugs they need, and NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently consulting on the future shape of the Fund to put it on a more sustainable footing.

Dementia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on the link between the speed of a person's walk and dementia.

Jane Ellison: Improving dementia research, improving the treatment and care of people with dementia and reducing the incidence of dementia, is a key priority for the government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020 as a successor to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-2015.My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had and continues to have discussions with a range of organisations about dementia including its signs and symptoms.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recently published a guideline which makes recommendations on approaches in mid‑life to delay or prevent the onset of dementia, disability and frailty in later life.

Mental health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of changes to public health funding on mental health and wellbeing.

Jane Ellison: Decisions on local public health spending are a matter for local authorities. The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s autumn statement confirmed that the local authority public health grant will remain in place, and will remain ring-fenced for use exclusively on public health interventions, during the financial years 2016/17 and 2017/18. Public Health England will continue to monitor and publish data on a wide range of indicators of outcomes from public health services, including a number relating to mental health and wellbeing.